More People Are Streaming on Twitch, But YouTube Is the Platform of Choice for Mobile-Game Streamers

In January 2019, we implemented a change to our YouTube data collection methodology for our Game Streaming Tracker. We began collecting data from all live channels, instead of the top 100 channels for each game. What does this mean? Essentially, now that we pull data from all YouTube channels, there is plenty of new data for our Game Streaming Tracker subscribers to slice and dice. For example, did you know that 22K people streamed game video content on YouTube in January? In this article, we will take a deep dive into some of this data. As always, we will finish by looking at the month’s most-watched games by live esports hours on Twitch and YouTube.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The data change also means that YouTube data from January 2019 onwards cannot be directly compared to viewership figures before January 2019. This change only applies to our YouTube methodology and has no impact on our viewing data for Twitch.

Streamer Numbers on Twitch and YouTube Gaming

Twitch is currently the most popular platform for streamers. In January, 63.7K people streamed on Twitch, generating 1.9 million hours of live video content. 22K people streamed on YouTube, producing 460K hours.

This means that Twitch had an average of 12,982 streamers per day throughout January—that’s almost three times higher than YouTube’s number (4,505).

Twitch streamers are also likelier to stream for longer. On average, YouTube streamers streamed for 21 minutes, while Twitch streamers streamed for an average of 29.8 minutes.

Fortnite Was the Most-Streamed Title on YouTube and Twitch

Unsurprisingly, battle royale phenomenon Fortnite had the highest number of streamers on both platforms in January, with 9,977 streamers on Twitch and 3,536 on YouTube.

PUBG also had plenty of streamers, boasting 4,092 on Twitch and 1,664 on YouTube. It had the third-most streamers on Twitch and the second-most on YouTube.

Across the board, shooters were the most-streamed games. The genre accounted for six of the top 10 games on Twitch (by number of streamers) and five on YouTube.

On Twitch, MOBA games also did well, with 5.2K people streaming League of Legends (#2 in the top 10 by number of steamers) and 2.2K streaming Dota 2 (#8 in the top 10). Dota 2 also secured #19 on YouTube with a streamer count of 267.

Mobile-Game Streamers Are More Likely to Stream on YouTube

Even though streamers are generally more likely to use Twitch to stream, YouTube was the more popular choice for streaming mobile titles.

Looking at the above top 10 by number of streamers, two mobile-only games made it into the YouTube ranking: Garena Free Fire (#4) and PUBG Mobile (#7).

Notably, Garena Free Fire had 1.2K streamers on YouTube and just 26 on Twitch.

The numbers for PUBG Mobile are also interesting, with over two-and-a-half times as many streamers on YouTube compared to Twitch (949 vs. 345).

By total live hours watched, PUBG Mobile was the third-watched game on YouTube, generating 19.6 million hours of live viewership. Impressively, this is only slightly behind regular PUBG, which generated 20.5 million hours on the platform.

It is markedly easier to stream mobile games from YouTube, as the app has streaming functionality built in (via an easy-to-use broadcast button).

As mobile gaming and streaming continue to grow, it will be interesting to see whether YouTube doubles down on its mobile-streamer-friendly approach. Needless to say, we will be keeping a close eye on the situation—as we always do.

Most Watched Games by Live Esports Hours: Console Esports Continue to Perform Well on Twitch

This strong performance continued throughout January, with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, FIFA 19, and Black Ops 4 each taking a spot in the Twitter top 10. Smash Bros. did especially well, jumping three spots to the #5 position.

Newzoo’s Game Streaming Tracker

Looking to track the world’s most viewed games, identify top streamers, or pinpoint esports heroes? Newzoo’s Game Streaming Tracker offers the most comprehensive overview of the game-streaming market. Updated daily, the tracker includes instant insights on the number of hours watched, hours broadcast, and the average number of viewers for various metrics, such as games, esports broadcasters, streamers, publishers, and genres.

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